While
the costs for medical treatment in the United States continues to increase,
the quality of that treatment doesn't appear to be getting much better
for Americans.

The
quality of health care improved by a mere average 2.3 percent a year
between 1994 and 2005, a rate that reflects some important advances
but points to an overall slowing in quality gains, according to annual
reports released by the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ).

While
costs increased almost seven percent last year alone, the improvement
rate, reported in AHRQ's 2007 National Healthcare Quality Report and
National Healthcare Disparities Report, is lower than the 3.1 percent
average annual improvement rate reported in the 2006 reports.

"Americans
are paying more for less for just about every product and service, from
the price and size of candy bars to the life and death aspects of medical
treatment," warns political strategist Mike Baker.

"This
situation is an open invitation for socialists such as presidential
hopeful Barack Obama to push for government control and rationing of
healthcare services," said Baker.

Quality
improvement rates are lower than widely documented increases in health
care spending. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimate
health care expenditures rose by a 6.7 percent average annual rate over
the same period.

"Health
care quality is improving only modestly, at best," claims Carolyn
M. Clancy, M.D. "Given that health care spending is rising much
faster, these findings about quality underscore the urgency to improve
the value Americans are getting for their health care dollars."

Each
year, AHRQ's companion Quality and Disparities reports update national
trends in the delivery of health care. The analyses measure quality
and disparities in four areas: effectiveness of care, patient safety,
timeliness of care and patient centeredness.

The
2007 reports -- the 5th edition since the reports' inaugural release
in 2003 -- show some notable gains, such as improvements in the care
of heart disease patients. When measuring what portion of heart attack
patients received recommended tests, medications or counseling to quit
smoking, the reports found an average 5.6 percent annual improvement
rate from 2002 to 2005.

Measures
of patient safety, meanwhile, showed an average annual improvement of
just 1 percent. That modest improvement rate reflected such measures
as what portion of elderly patients had been given potentially harmful
prescription drugs and how many patients developed post-surgery complications.

The
reports also showed some reductions in disparities of care according
to race, ethnicity and income. For example, while Hispanics remain more
likely than whites to get delayed care or no care at all for an illness,
that disparity decreased between 2000/2001 and 2004/2005. In addition,
while black children between 19 and 35 months old remain less likely
than white children to receive all recommended vaccines, that disparity
also decreased.

"The
reason for the decreases in disparity isn't due to better medical treatment
for minorities and the poor, but because treatment isn't as effective
for white Americans," claims Baker.

AHRQ's
Quality and Disparities Reports, which are mandated by Congress, are
read widely by policymakers, healthcare analysts, public health advocates,
health insurers, journalists and consumers.

This
year's National Healthcare Quality Report synthesizes more than 200
"quality measures," which range from how many pregnant women
received prenatal care to what portion of nursing home residents were
controlled by physical restraints. The National Healthcare Disparities
Report, meanwhile, summarizes which racial, ethnic or income groups
are benefiting from improvements in care.

The
2007 reports draw on data from more than three dozen databases, most
sponsored by federal health agencies. Among the findings:

More
than 93 percent of heart attack patients received the recommended hospital
care in 2005, up from about 77 percent in 2000/2001. The percent of
heart attack patients who were counseled to quit smoking increased from
about 43 percent in 2000/2001 to about 91 percent in 2005.

Some
experts believe, however, that a lack of health insurance may have significant
impacts on healthcare quality. For example, only 18 percent of people
without insurance went to the dentist at least once in the previous
year compared with 51 percent with private insurance. Only 38 percent
of uninsured women received mammograms in the past two years compared
with 74 percent with private insurance.

About
26 percent of adults with basic disabilities -- those disabilities that
challenge mobility or other basic functions -- received delayed care
or no care at all compared with about 11 percent of people without disabilities.

About
23 percent of seniors with disabilities took inappropriate medications
compared with 13 percent of seniors without disabilities.

Among
people who needed treatment for illicit drug use in 2005, only 18 percent
of adults between the ages of 18 and 44 actually got treatment. Only
11 percent of children between 12 and 17 got treatment. These rates
have remained about the same since 2002.

In
one of his campaign speeches, Democrat Party presidential candidate
Barack Obama said,

"We
now face an opportunity -- and an obligation -- to turn the page on
the failed politics of yesterday's health care debates… My plan
begins by covering every Americcan. If you already have health insurance,
the only thing that will change for you under this plan is the amount
of money you will spend on premiums. That will be less. If you are one
of the 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance, you will
have it after this plan becomes law. No one will be turned away because
of a preexisting condition or illness."

"The
leftists want to call the shots when it comes to life and death. The
government cannot even deliver the mail properly, yet they want to deliver
medical services? It should scare the hell out of any clear thinking
American," said Jane Martin, a public school administrator whose
work includes providing health services for students.

"Once
again the liberals are using scare tactics in order to get Americans
to give up their freedoms including the freedom to choose doctors, hospitals
and medical treatment," adds Mike Baker.

"Americans
are paying more for less for just about every product and service, from
the price and size of candy bars to the life and death aspects of medical
treatment," warns political strategist Mike Baker.